In a New Year comment Abe said the country's constitution --
which limits its military to self-defence -- could be amended by
2020, days after his visit to a controversial war shrine in Tokyo
enraged Asian neighbours.

China and South Korea see the Yasukuni Shrine as a brutal
reminder of Japan's war-time aggression and failure to repent for
its history.

The visit also angered the North, which last month slammed the
conservative Japanese leader of "reckless behaviours" that would
push Japan into "self-destruction".

The North's ruling party newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, on Sunday
heaped further criticism on Abe for the New Year message, warning
that Tokyo's leaders should "behave themselves".

"What Abe said was dangerous outbursts which brought to light the
true colors of a militarist maniac," it said in an editorial.

Accusing the prime minister of seeking to "bring back the era...
when the Japanese imperialists could dominate Asia", the paper
claimed that Tokyo was taking the path of "self-destruction".

"If the present ruling forces of Japan have even an iota of
reasonable thinking, they should face up to the reality and
behave themselves," it said.

The communist state has habitually slammed Tokyo for failing to
repent for its 1910-45 occupation of the Korean peninsula and
what it calls Japan's rising military ambitions.

The North's nuclear and missile programmes have raised
longstanding security concerns in Japan, which last month
announced it will boost its military budget, spending $240
billion between 2014 and 2019 to buy fighter jets and other
military hardware.

The move drew a typically angry response from the North, which
called it a "crafty and sinister attempt to justify Japan's arms
build-up and reinvasion scheme".